Creed III is directed by its titular star, Micheal B. Jordan, with Sylvester Stallone on board as a co-producer, and a story co-written by Ryan and Keenan Coogler. Jordan, for the third time, takes on the role of Adonis Creed, with Tessa Thompson back as Bianca, his wife. Florian Monteau as Viktor Drago also makes a re-appearance, but the big wrinkle in this new tale is that of Damian Anderson (Jonathan Majors), a boyhood friend of Adonis, who was an upcoming boxer but has languished in jail for reasons connected to Creed; and now that he’s out of prison, feels he’s entitled to some karmic payback.
With this installment in the Creed spin-off franchise from Rocky, Creed now reaches the mid-point of how many Rocky films exist, three to six. When one considers that the first Rocky came out in 1976, that’s some film history for this franchise - now coming close to half a century. And the ‘miracle’ story here is how Stallone is still involved in the continuing saga.
Jonathan Majors is back with his second major role in a current movie, and is evidently, this year’s breakout star. I liked him in The Last Black Man in San Francisco, and on TV, in the series Lovecraft County. Having been introduced as Kang the Conqueror in Ant-Man’s Quantumania, he’ll be the main villain in the future MCU films, and it’s good to have him playing a pivotal character here in Creed. He seethes, he rages inwardly, he’s like a high tension wire. Such that even when he and Adonis reminisce or talk about their early friendship, there’s an undercurrent of trouble looming and knocking on the door, urgent to be let in.
Sports Drama is the genre explored with this film, and with Jordan at the helm, while the fight sequences are there, the drama is never far from his sights. After the prologue detailing the friendship from some two decades ago, we’re brought up to speed with the current life of Adonis Creed, where he’s now more gym owner and boxing promoter than he is pugilist.
The family drama, the daughter on the spectrum, and a meatier role for Tessa Thompson to explore - they all add up to an interesting, textured take on the sports hero. And examining where they go when hanging up the gloves has become the choice to make.
But in the manner that we say let sleeping dogs lie, the specter of Dame’s past and what her demands for the here and now, haunts Adonis and becomes the stuff of how the legend has to live on. Themes about family, second chances, retribution and justice are all given their turn in the spotlight, and while the fight scenes are imaginatively inspired by anime; it’s the drama that ultimately marks this film as a winner. And bodes well for the Creed franchise living on!